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(In honor of the Superbowl, Say Ahhh! is hosting a Super Blog-Off to determine whether the Steeler Nation or Packer fans are doing a better job of Connecting Kids to Coverage.  Please read both blogs and vote for your favorite by submitting a comment.  Comments must be submitted by kick-off Sunday night.  See Say Ahhh! for details on the competition.)

As this photo attests, we are quite serious about making sure every child gets the best coverage. No baby should leave the hospital without health insurance or a Terrible Towel. Such a beautiful sight, new born babes swaddled in Terrible Towels. (Is it even possible to swaddle a baby in a cheese wedge ??!!??)

By Reverend Sally Jo Snyder, Director of Advocacy and Consumer Engagement, Consumer Health Coalition

Just like the NFL's "Defensive Player of the Year", the Steeler's stellar safety, Troy Polamalu, we at the Consumer Health Coalition (CHC) know and believe in the value of excellent coverage.

As a recipient of a Children's Health Insurance Program outreach grant, our game plan was to conduct outreach to inform families and enroll children in Medical Assistance (MA) and the Children's Health Insurance program (CHIP). We huddled-up with our team and together crafted a strategy that would place a lot of enrollees on the MA and CHIP Insurance "score board."

A successful offense has to be able to tally huge amounts of yardage. Therefore, part of our strategy was to conduct outreach to the surrounding rural counties of Armstrong and Butler - areas that our "stats" indicated had high numbers of uninsured children.  Because Steeler's Nation is everywhere and because we wanted to get out the word about MA and CHIP, we attended the Armstrong and Butler county fairs and hosted  information booths.  We also visited their pediatrician's offices, their school districts, and their hospitals.

Sometimes, it may be necessary for the offense to put together a 100-yard drive.  Our version of that is the 100% pledge. We asked organizations, agencies, and congregations to sign a commitment wherein they pledge to ask every person who comes to their organization whether or not they have health insurance coverage. If the answer is "no," they are promptly referred to CHC where we work to get them health care coverage.

By far the Most Valuable Players (MVP's) of our outreach efforts are the members of the SALUD PARA NINOS free clinic.   Every month, CHC's bilingual enrollment specialist attends the clinic and enrolls uninsured children on site.  Knowing how important special teams are to overall success, CHC's bilingual outreach specialist produced Spanish-language pocket cards that informed consumers about enrolling in CHIP and, even more importantly, reminded them to follow-up on their CHIP coverage renewals.

Just as the Steelers are on "The Drive for Super Bowl XLV" and our Seventh Lombardi Trophy, so to is CHC. One of our community partners, the Squirrel Hill Health Center, purchased a mobile clinic and once a month we join them and their medical team as they travel through low-income areas and offer services to vulnerable populations.  We ride along to ask and make certain every child has health insurance coverage.

Every football fan knows that the key to lasting success is a good draft and a constantly strong rookie class. (Just like Steelers' Rockin' Rookies: Antonio Brown, Maurkice Pouncey, and Emmanuel Sanders....watch for big things from them in the Super Bowl!) For our CHIP outreach we partner with the Birth Circle, a doula organization, to make connections with pregnant women. By forming a relationship with them, once the child is born, we are able to make certain the newest members of Steeler's Nation have health insurance.


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